The Seoul Central District Court announced on December 16 that it will deliver a verdict on January 16 in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's trial for obstructing justice during his short-lived martial law declaration last December, following the special counsel's indictments earlier this year.
This timeline complies with legal requirements for a first ruling within six months of the special counsel team led by Cho Eun-suk's July 17 indictment. Yoon faces charges of blocking investigators from detaining him, violating nine Cabinet members' rights by excluding them from a martial law review meeting, drafting and destroying a revised proclamation after the decree's lift, and ordering deletion of secure phone records.
Hearings in this case are set to conclude on December 19 or 26. Yoon's defense sought to delay the verdict until after a related insurrection and abuse of power trial concludes in February, but the judge ruled the obstruction case independent. This is one of multiple proceedings against Yoon post-impeachment, with potential implications for his future.
